


The Valley

by eternal_song



Series: Blood Red Valerian [1]
Category: Tsubasa: Reservoir Chronicle
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Blood, Gen, Original Fai lives, Spoilers, but that doesn't fix everything, our Fai goes by Yuui, spoilers for Fai's past
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-11-06
Updated: 2018-11-06
Packaged: 2019-08-19 16:18:52
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 997
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16537994
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/eternal_song/pseuds/eternal_song
Summary: Fai survived the fall, but only barely. Yūi doesn't know why he thought he could sacrifice his brother to escape, but he has one chance to fix it and nothing to bargain with.





	The Valley

**Author's Note:**

> This started as a thought experiment on what Yūi's character would be like if Fai had survived, and from there it morphed into me wanting to rewrite TRC world-by-world. I'm starting off small, in Valeria, where it all began.

“Fai? Fai, Please. Please, I didn’t mean it. Wake up. Please, wake up.”

Yūi sobbed as he held his brother, his scabbed and cold-numb fingers groping at Fai’s neck for any hint of a pulse. It might have been his imagination, but he thought he felt the barest hint of a warm breath where Fai’s face was cradled in the crook of his neck. It might have been the blood dripping from his brother’s mouth.

There was so much blood.

“Hmm,” the strange man said from the other side of his strange rip in the world, interrupting Yūi’s frantic mumbling. “It seems he still lives.”

Yūi grasped his brother tighter as he stared at the man in surprise. He had said one of them had to die for the other to leave the valley. Yūi couldn’t imagine what had possessed him to say that his brother should be the one to die, when it so clearly should have been him. If Fai still lived, if only by a little bit…

“I— I changed my mind!” He met the man’s cold gaze with his own. “I should be the one to die, not Fai! Please, please, take my life, and save him!”

Yūi could feel tears rolling down his cheeks, and he knew he must look pathetic— emaciated, ungroomed, and covered in his twin’s blood. The man continued to appear unmoved. Yūi’s breath hitched as a wet, rasping sound came from Fai. Instinctively, he loosened his arms a bit.

“I believe I can use this to my advantage,” The man said after a protracted silence. Yūi barely dared to breathe as he waited for him to make a decision. The man gave a smile as unsettling as the sigil on his chest and spoke again.

“Would you like for your brother to live?”

Yūi nodded frantically.

“I can ensure he does not die of his injuries. I won’t make you give your life in return, but you must do something else for me instead.”

Yūi didn’t have to think about his answer.

“Anything. I don’t care what, but please don’t let Fai die!”

The man nodded and waved his hand. Fai took in a single, shuddering gasp against Yūi’s throat and fell into the breathing of one deeply asleep.  Yūi closed his eyes, slid his hand into his brother’s grimy and matted hair, and held him close so he could feel each breath with his whole body.

“Thank you,” he whispered.

“Don’t thank me. If you wish to offer your gratitude, then there is something you must do for me.”

Yūi opened his eyes again and raised a wary glance at the man.

“What… do I…” He couldn’t seem to get any words out. The man pointed a finger in Yūi’s direction, the rift in spacetime seeming to bend around him like water.

“Soon, someone will come for you, and you will have the opportunity to leave this place. But one day… you will, for a specific reason, travel to many varied places. And when one who bears great magical power appears before you, you will put that one to death!”

Yūi could feel the magic snaking around him, binding him to the man’s words.

“And for your other curse…”

 

* * *

 

The earth was shaking, but Yūi barely noticed. He felt as though nothing mattered but continuing to shelter his brother from the elements. Fai still hadn’t woken up, though he seemed to be doing better physically than Yūi was. Breathing deeply, Fai slept on through every tremor which rattled Yūi’s bones.

Another great rumble shook the ground, dislodging some of the bodies from the macabre staircase Yūi had attempted to make. He looked up in time to see the tower crumble and fall in pieces. He had to dive out of the way of one of the larger chunks of masonry, shielding Fai from the falling rubble with his own body.

“Is the world… being destroyed?” he asked aloud. Fai couldn’t answer, but Yūi had long since grown used to speaking without expecting a reply.

This time, however, he received one.

It first appeared as as mere blobs, swirling in the air in front of him, but they soon coalesced into the figure of a tall man with long black hair. He wore strange clothing under a dark fur cloak, and his face held a kind smile and soft eyes. The crystals on his crown twinkled when he moved his head. His magical aura was potent and thick, and Yūi couldn’t help being scared of him. No one was supposed to be capable of entering this valley, save for the dead. Magic shouldn’t work here at all. Maybe the world truly was ending.

“I’ve come for you,” the man said. Yūi met his eyes warily, loosening his grip on Fai a little.

“…From Gehenna?” He asked. Even Hell might be preferable to this cursed valley.

“From another world.” The man surveyed the two of them, sorrow written across his features. “Is this where you want to be?”

Yūi hesitated, choosing his words carefully.

“There is something… I have to do… so I…” He trailed off, unwilling to explain to this man about the deal he had made.

“If so, you two must not stay here. You both must live.” At this, the man gave a small smile.

“To remain unhappy…?” Yūi had already brought his brother so much misfortune. Maybe he deserved to be unhappy, but he refused to believe Fai did.

“To grant me a wish,” the man said. Yūi blinked at him in shock. He hadn’t had the ability to get out of the valley to grant his own wish, so what could he possibly do to grant someone else’s? As if sensing his hesitance, the man smiled a little wider and held out his hand to Yūi.

“Shall we go? This isn’t the only world in existence.”

Yūi hesitated, then lifted his bloody, shaking hand and took the man’s offer.

“What is your name?”

“…Yūi.”

**Author's Note:**

> I would love to hear what you thought of this. Critique, ideas, compliments, and kudos, I love them all.  
> Just know that updates on this will be sporadic, and will likely only happen if and when each world is completed.
> 
> a huge thank you to my sister for putting up with me bouncing ideas off of her.
> 
> EDIT 12/5/2018 I went back and did a bunch of grammar editing, so enjoy :)


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